BAMBI: Finding comfort in a trattoria

““You grandmother passed, the best way to honor her is to cook something. Or eat something she would cook,” said one of my best friends during this past difficult week.

She was absolutely right. I hardly recall ever seeing my grandmother outside of the kitchen. There is a certain comfort in food. Not just any food. Good food. Food cooked with heart and passion.

You can’t get that type of food at your local chain chicken parm factory. It can be found at a few places. Trattoria Rosa Bianca in Yardley is one of them. I had been anxious to visit when I heard that it was owned and operated by Anthony Boccella, a Norristown native who attended Holy Saviour School and Kennedy-Kenrick High School.

The restaurant purchases their products from the abundant area local farmer’s markets and area farms in Bucks County and nearby New Jersey.

“We go out and get all the food we need for the day. Nothing is frozen,” said Boccella. “We are lucky we are in a really cool area and can get pretty much anything all the time.”

Anthony and his wife Rosa Bianca recently celebrated their restaurant’s one-year anniversary. The white rose, the Italian meaning of Rosa Bianca, adorn each table in the 1890s Victorian house-turned restaurant.

“His father is a carpenter and he was able to bring it back to its original beauty. He made it a restaurant for us,” said Rosa.

Boccella’s father was born in a small town near Naples and his mother’s family is of Sicilian descent. He learned to cook from his mother, who visited her in-laws to be able to prepare the regional dishes her husband enjoyed.

“She’s a great cook. I took that base and expanded on it throughout the years,” said Boccella.

The couple will be married four years in December and met while working at Bertollini’s in the King of Prussia Mall. Rosa was a general manager and Anthony a chef. They reside in West Norriton with their two children Laila, 3, and Anthony, 2.

“We knew we could do it,” said Rosa about opening a restaurant.

“It was a mutual thing when we worked together. We both had experience in business for a long time. It came to a point that when the opportunity came up, we can do it for ourselves.”

Rosa is the “front of the house” face for the BYOB located on the quant Main Street. She’s a dynamo of hospitality — warm, sweet, welcoming — wrapped up in a pretty petite frame.

While Anthony is more laid back, his passion for the food is obvious. Braciola, bolognese, calamari, and frutta di mare are Rosa Bianca’s most popular dishes.

However, he becomes quite animated while talking about pasta, which I believe is the basis for Italian food.

“The pasta is the key for me. It’s the staple of the cuisine. It stands out. I think we do it really well. A lot of our pasta is homemade and that’s something we take pride in. The time and effort is reflective of the passion we have for it,” said Boccella.

With dinner hour approaching, guests shuffled in and the smells in the kitchen were amped up to drool-worthy. Especially Boccella’s favorite smell.

“Garlic. You know what it is right away. It’s the beginning of a lot of different things. It means it’s go time.”

He placed a bowl of bolognese in front of me and when the aroma hit my nose it was like I was stepped into a time machine and was brought back twenty years. When she was on her culinary game — it was the type of dish my grandmom would make. It might look like a simple dish but the veal and pork takes a few hours to braise.

I pulled the bowl close and stabbed the thick, ribbed tubular rigatoni and made sure I got the meat and freshly pecorino cheese. It’s been so long since I had the dish, I forgot how delicious it was. I tried not to be overcome with nostalgia since I had to engage in a fork battle with my husband.

“People are always saying, my grandmother made this or my mom used to make this,” said Rosa. “It’s something they grew up with. It’s the kind of food you don’t see everywhere. That’s exactly the kind of food that he cooks.”

It’s not just food. It’s tradition. It’s passion. It’s comfort.

Trattoria Rosa Bianca

94 South Main Street

Yardley, PA 19067

267.392.5738

Katie Bambi-Kohler is a Norristown native and a current resident of King of Prussia. Visit her blog at www.cheesesteakprincess.blogspot.com. Follow her on Twitter @chzstkprincess.